Raw Cereal

Here it is! This is one of my favorite breakfast foods, raw cereal. At first I was like, "Huh? Raw cereal? Sounds gross." It's anything but. If you like fruit and nuts you'll LOVE this. Plus it's fast to put together and sticks with you for hours after you eat it, giving you plenty of energy in the meantime.

Here's the recipe that I use which was roughly adapted from one I found online. You can use other ingredients that you have on hand--play with it and make it personal to your own tastes.

Raw Cereal

Quarter then slice one banana into a bowl.
Add one apple (I've had it both grated and chopped--either way is tasty but grating it tends to make the cereal a lot more wet)
Toss on a small handful of chopped almonds or walnuts
Add a small handful of sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds
Add raisins or chopped dates to the top
Sprinkle a generous helping of shredded coconut on top if you desire.
Drizzle with 1 tsp. of raw honey, dust with cinnamon.
Splash a small amount of almond or other nut milk on top.

Tah-Dah! All done and ready to eat.

Money, Money, Money

(Photo courtesy of www.photos8.com)

"Money is the root of all evil." Many people have misquoted that famous verse from scripture. In fact, the verse says, "Love of money is the root of all evil."

What's the difference?

Love of money, in my opinion, is a big problem because it causes people to put their trust and faith in something fickle. Though the huge problems that have spread across Wall Street and now the country are definitely NOT a good thing, there are lessons to be learned.

1) Don't put faith in things.

2) Don't spend more than you can afford.

3) Have a back up plan.

Some of the stories we read about in the news are heartbreaking. Families who've been forced to leave their homes after one or both parents loses their jobs, companies downsizing, businesses going bankrupt.

But some of the stories make me frustrated. The people who could "afford" a $400,000 mortgage who've lost their home because they really couldn't manage a payment that size after all. The people who run up so much credit card debt that they just move to another credit card when one is maxed out. The well-off families who have been living "the life" and now have to cut back to only 2 modest sized cars instead of 4 SUV's, stop eating out every day, and cancel their masseuse and maid services and are just so put out over it. Oh, to have those kind of troubles!

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't always been responsible with my money. It's still a struggle to this day for me to pass up "great deals", even if they're at the local thrift shop or lawn sale. If you don't need it, it's still a waste, no matter how cheap it is.

My finances now look quite a bit different than they did eight or 10 years ago. Several things influenced me. One was that I had quite a bit of credit card debt myself in my early 20's. And let me tell you, it did not feel good. Another thing that influenced me was meeting my then boyfriend, now husband who is very responsible with his money. I also started reading a lot of great books about living more simply and learned a very important lesson while reading, "Your Money or Your Life". This book teaches many, many lessons but the most important thing I got from it was this: Your money is your life energy. How you spend or save it allows you to live in the manner you most want to live. In other words, if you are working some stressful job that makes you very unhappy but brings in a large paycheck, you're expending your life energy for that money. You could decide to move to less stressful job with a pay cut or start a business of your own. But only you can decide ultimately if it's more important for you to make a lot of money or do work that you enjoy but make less doing it. And for some (many?) people, giving up the "extras" seems like too much of a drawback.

Another excellent book that I'd highly recommend is "The Simple Living Guide". This book is chock full of great ideas and best of all, the ideas are practical and lead to a more balanced way of living. The author doesn't encourage readers to sell their homes, move into studio apartments and grow sprouts for food. She instead recommends looking at what's working and not working now and making small adjustments until you get where it is you most want to be.

The Simple Dollar is another great resource and it's online (free!). Many great articles about finances and how to start making changes.

Most importantly perhaps, is remembering that money is just an exchange. It's not magical. It's not the most important thing in life (if it IS the most important thing in your life, you might want to re-evaluate). Personally, I don't see anything wrong with having it, as long as you don't keep it all for yourself. Remember that saying, "Love isn't love until you give it away?" Same holds true for money, I think.

Ch-ch-cha-changes

I was just thinking this morning as I performed my morning "getting ready for the day" rituals how different they are now than in the past.

Like many things I thought could never change, my bathing rituals are certainly different from when I was in my teens and early 20's.

Here's an example of my past grooming practices:

Wash hair with chemical shampoo and condition (if necessary) with matching chemical conditioner. Use perfume-y (and probably toxic) yummy smelling bath gel. Shave legs with disposable razor and more perfume-y shaving gel. Apply scented lotion and/or powder/perfume after shower to seal in scent. (I read somewhere about "layering" scents in high school and did this for a long time). Don't forget to apply a lot of chemical anti-perspirant! Apply 2-3 products into hair while blow drying. Put on arsenal of conventional makeup with scary ingredients that I can't pronounce onto my face, after rubbing in a moisturizer full of still more ingredients I can't pronounce. Spray hair liberally with hairspray. Done!

Yikes.

Now my routine is a little different. I'm certainly not a full on crunchy yet. I still wear makeup. I still use some chemical products on my hair and face. But my routine has been cleaned up significantly since the ole' days.

Now my grooming routine looks something like this:

Wash hair (I still use non-natural shampoos as they all seem to make my hair as flat as a pancake--anyone have good suggestions?). Sometimes clarify hair by adding a little baking soda to shampoo to remove any residue. Soap up with natural soap fragranced with essential oils. Shave using shampoo or soap with razor that has replaceable cartridges. Apply almond oil to face and body after shower. This oil is GREAT, absorbs quickly and never leaves me feeling greasy. Or alternately, apply a natural body butter or add a drop or two of essential oil to almond oil for fragrance. Dust baking soda under arms in place of deodorant. Dry hair and add a little mousse or spray (again, I haven't been able to find good natural alternatives but am open to ideas!). Apply mineral makeup and traditional liner/mascara (suggestions for the best natural one you've used?). Done!

There has been so much in the media in recent years about what we are putting on our faces and bodies. What was eye opening to me was a time when my grandmother, we called her Memere, was in the nursing home. She got pain patches to help her and my mother described how the patches worked. Basically, like the nicotine or birth control patches they are placed directly onto the patient's skin and are then absorbed into their blood stream!

Hello!

If medication can be applied onto the skin and absorbed, then where are all these lotions and oils and soaps and deodorants going?

If you have any interest in this at all, or even if you are a skeptic, you really should check out Skin Deep. This organization has a database of all all the ingredients in popular cosmetics and what their potential dangers are. It also gives the product a score of lowest to highest danger. Thank goodness I just found out that my chemical mascara is only a 1 (lowest danger) but I'm still going to keep searching for a good, natural alternative.

Tell me about you~have you made any changes to the products that you use over the years for health reasons? What do you think of all the research around toxic ingredients being found in cosmetics? Leave a comment and let me know what you think about all of this.

Healthy Planet, Healthy You

Boy, I really wanted to add another rhyme to the title, like "Healthy Planet, Healthy You, in 2002!". But of course, I'd be a few years off.

It's hard to believe that it's nearly 2009! This last year has been one of changes for me--big changes. First, I quit my job to go out on my own with my writing career. Exhilarating. Wonderful. And scary. Worth it? Absolutely. But that just wasn't enough fear for me to feel in one year, so then I decided I was ready to be a mom. And poof! Just like that, I was "with child". (Must be that healthy vegetarian diet!).

Which brings me to the point of my post--healthy eating and a whole foods diet. Now, if you read all the studies, statistics, books, magazines and other information that inundates us on a daily basis in regards to losing weight and being healthier, you can easily become overwhelmed. I know I am. While information about what's healthy and what isn't is beneficial, I think it can all get to be a little bit much.

Recently, I've been reading Michael Pollan's, "In Defense of Food". I find his philosophy of healthy eating simple and astute. Ready? Here it is: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." That's it! Simple? It would seem so until one heads into the local grocery store and finds 20 "ingredients" listed on popular favorites that you can't pronounce. Pollan states that we should shop like we were with our great-grandmother. If she wouldn't be able to recognize the food item or ingredients in it, that's our cue to leave the food on the shelf.

For the past couple of months I'll admit I've been doing more of a grab-and-go style of eating than is healthy. On top of that, I've been seriously craving sweets and letting myself have them with a little too much abandon. Oh, it starts innocently enough. "Just a couple of hard candies after lunch with a cup of cocoa." But then later in the day the cravings get worse and I feel like crap after plowing through a bunch of cookies or leftover sweets we have in the snack cupboard. "But I'm pregnant! I can't be held responsible for these horrible cravings!" And, I don't know if you are like this or not, but the more I try to restrict myself, the more I want something. The problem is that if you eat a lot of junk, it's taking the place of good, healthy foods that your body really needs. This can set off more cravings and additional craziness in the kitchen.

So I'm trying a new tactic, one that for the past few days I've been doing it, has been working beautifully. Forget what I "can't" have and focus on all the awesome foods that I haven't been making room for. Mangoes. Fresh pineapple. Dried figs. Fresh vegetables prepared in a new delicious marinade. I thank my friend who kindly sent me, "Vegan Express", a new cookbook that is giving me lots of inspiration! And amazingly, so far, after eating lots of fruits and veggies and healthier meals, my sugar cravings are nearly gone.

On top of the wonderful way that you'll feel if you start eating healthier, eating a plant-based, or even decreased meat diet has many benefits on the planet. Global warming is being attributed to, in part at least, the amount of land that is being used up by animals which will later be slaughtered. Methane, produced by animals (ahem) gas, is seriously hurting the atmosphere as well. It might seem funny, but it's actually a really serious problem. Read more about it here. So, we can actually save two of the most important things that we have at our disposal--our health and the health of our planet--by choosing to eat in a healthy, more responsible way.

And on top of all that, it's yummy.

Love the Planet? Recycle.

It's very easy to get caught up sometimes in the "big picture" behind the environment and global warming. It's easy say, to blame people who drive gas guzzlers and live in McMansions (even though there are only two people in the family), or to blame the huge corporations that spew toxic chemicals into the air and water near them. The people who don't recycle. The organizations which make junky products that break and end up in the trash sooner than later.

But blaming never gets one very far.

Instead, let's focus on what we can do--each and every one of us. I've compiled a teeny list below, taken from a recent article in Real Simple magazine. For a comprehensive list, follow this link. The articles are called "How to Recycle Anything", and are written by Natalie Ermann Russell. She did a great job on them and offers a huge array of recycling tidbits.

• Sneakers: Nike offers a "Reuse a Shoe" program where they make courts for kids to play on. If shoes are still in good condition, consider donating to your local thrift shop.
• Packing peanuts: With the holiday season upon us, we'll more than likely end up with some boxes filled with the puffy peanuts. These can be brought to UPS or Mail Boxes, Etc. stores for re-use.
• Recreational equipment: Bring to Play it Again Sports, drop off at a local thrift shop, or offer it up on Craigslist or Freecycle.

And lastly, think about pre-cycling. Pre-cycling is trying to buy things with the absolute lowest amount of waste possible. Think bulk food bins at the grocery store, going without plastic carrier bags that we all get far too many of, and trying to buy things in their most natural, plastic free form.

Inspiration for a Monday Morning

My goodness, time has gotten away from me. I apologize that it's been so quiet here on the blog. Chalk it up to good, old-fashioned workaholicism (is that a real word?). As many of you know, I'm a full-time freelance writer. Being self-employed has it's benefits (many) and drawbacks (few). One of the drawbacks though, is a real pain--income and the sometimes lack thereof. For the past few weeks, I have been re-thinking my business plans and have become inspired to make some changes in my career goals.

It's easy isn't it, to get bogged down in all the cant's. "I can't do that, I don't have the money for it. I couldn't possibly do this because it would never work. I could never do this or that because I'm not smart enough/rich enough/popular enough/brave enough."

The fact is, that for many of us focusing on the can't's is easier and more comfortable than dwelling on the possibility of what we can do. "I can stop doing this and start doing this. I can try this. I can believe in this."

Now, what does all this have to do with the environmental and social issues that this blog is dedicated to? Well, a lot really. So often in areas where real change is needed, it is often hard to come by. It's easy to become discouraged over time, to feel like your small changes (re-using plastic bags, wrapping gifts in hand decorated newsprint, composting your kitchen scraps) are all for naught. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the big, harsh world outside of our doorways. But if you walk out of that doorway with a positive attitude, I believe you will see big changes.

I see positive thinking as something that I need doses of on a daily basis. Like sunshine, healthy eating and exercise, it's something that can boost your spirit every single day. And for people who have a natural tendency toward negative or "realist" attitudes, it's even more important.

One of my favorite positive authors is Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. He wrote many books on the subject of positive thinking and most of what he says really resounds with me. The books, most of which were published many years ago, do have a lot of "old-fashioned" language in them. Some of it is rather comical. But the points he makes are clarifying and the overall feeling of his books is that of personal responsibility. No one else is going to do it for you. Each of us has to take charge of our minds and our futures, to stop blaming others and start looking at what we can do, right here and now to make this place, this life, what we most want it to be.

A Healthy Start

Photo courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net

Well, here we are. The week that marks the official beginning of the holiday eating season. What foods lie in wait for us in the weeks ahead? Pies, cakes, pastries, stuffing, meats and cheeses, white rolls with butter, fudge, Christmas cookies, wine, cocoa, fondue--the list goes on an on.

I'm certainly not posting about all of this to rain on anyone's parade, least of all my own. I love the holidays and I love the special foods and smells that are only around once a year.

But one thing I hate is getting sick after Christmas. It never seems to fail--after the parties are over (sometimes before), I come down with a bad cold and/or flu. The cause? Too much unhealthy foods, particularly sweets, not enough fruits and veggies, too little sleep, too many gatherings. I'm worn out and exhausted and my body is run down.

While I don't want to be one of those people who munches plain carrot sticks and sips seltzer water at parties (not that there's anything wrong with that), I do need to learn to exercise more moderation. Christmas cookies? Absolutely my favorite Christmas treats. So maybe I can overdo on the cookies and not take any pie, which I really don't care for. If there's a party planned for this evening, maybe I can nap this afternoon so that I don't get overtired. Being "with child" this year offers me the perfect excuse to take even better care of myself.

I have already been feeling the effects of overindulgence. Though the only cookies I have in the house are of a low-sugar variety (animal crackers and homemade biscotti), it's easy to reach for those in place of fruit or other healthier options. Last night I was browsing some of my favorite blogs and re-read a couple of posts on the Happy Foody site. No matter what, Sara has the ability to inspire me to want to eat better and live more "cleanly".

I figured fitting in a fruit smoothie this morning was the perfect way to start my day. I put spinach, frozen strawberries, an orange and a banana in the blender with a little honey and water and viola! A yummy, filling smoothie which will hopefully give me the energy I need for the busy day ahead of me.

Check out these recipes on Happy Foody for some smoothie inspiration. Or check out the Green Smoothie Girl's site--You'll be craving a smoothie for yourself before you know it.

Pause

Why do we tend to think that nice dinners can only be had out of our own homes? Sunday I prepared a yummy, warm, fall feast for my husband two of my sisters. The dishes I made were simple and homey, but tasty. Best of all, we could linger as long as we wanted over the Spiced Baked Fruit dessert and cups of decaf. No one breathing down our necks to clear the table and, maybe best of all, no check to fight over at the end of the meal.

Yeah, yeah, I hear you saying. That's all well and good, but it's a lot of work to make homemade meals and clean up afterwards.

Well, true. It is a little work and if you are someone who doesn't enjoy cooking than going out is probably a much better option.

Still, if you prepare some or most of your dishes ahead of time, you can pop them in the oven before guests arrive. I try to keep the dishes cleaned as I go and put things away as soon as I finish one recipe so I don't make a huge mess of the kitchen. PLUS, making a nice big Sunday meal means you'll have at least a day or two of leftovers. I had leftovers for lunch--yummy, free and no work.

Healthy AND Delicious

This weekend I was re-reading another old favorite from my simple living library--Janet Luhrs's "The Simple Living Guide" I was re-inspired by her chapter on nutrition. Fall is a time when I feel my best--I don't know about any of you but there are certain seasons when I feel great, inside and out, and others (like late spring) when I feel icky and out of balance.

Anyway, in reading the chapter on nutrition, the author talks about the importance of whole, unadulterated foods and trying to eat foods as close as possible to the way they are found in nature. By doing this, we can feel our best, build our immune systems, and generally be our healthiest.

The author bases a lot of her health nutrition on that of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (though she is not an Adventist herself). One of the things that Adventists traditionally believe, is that the body needs good, nourishing foods and then time to digest them properly. Luhrs talks about their belief that one should eat their largest meal at breakfast, the second largest at lunch, and a very small, or no, supper. Meals should be spaced about 5 hours apart and one should eat a LOT at mealtimes, as snacking is not looked upon favorably.

I'm not one for a lot of "rules" around food--having grown up in a house where we were always "all or nothing" eating (either all trying to be super healthy or all scarfing ice cream sundaes). I try to be very moderate about my eating habits. However, I did take the authors suggestion of making a pot of healthy, whole grains and having that with fruit for breakfast. I found a recipe for Crockpot Cobbler and scoured my kitchen cabinets Saturday night, putting together the ingredients in my trusty crockpot. This is a great way to use up some of your fall apples AND any stale granola you might have lurking in your cupboards. Plus, it's super easy and fast to make.

It was delicious--warm and creamy, low in fat and high in fiber. And it was a real treat to smell breakfast already cooking when I got up on Sunday morning. I felt like I was at a B&B!

This morning I made up a large pot of kidney beans, from dry beans I purchased at our local natural food store this weekend. Dry beans are a HUGE savings and really aren't that time consuming to make--they just require a little pre-planning to soak before cooking. I'm going to make chili and Mustard Baked Beans with them, and will use any leftovers in my salads. I think I'll try to find a whole grain cornbread recipe to go with both dishes.

Here's to cooking healthy AND delicious foods!

What's Christmas all About?

Hard to believe (though easier for me as we now have snow on the ground!) but Christmas will be here soon. I thought it was the perfect time, now in October, to start thinking about what that means for me and my family. Last year, we talked my husband's family into exchanging names--one person to buy for rather than five. It worked surprisingly well and we had a fun time with it. This year, my family (there are 13 of us) is doing a Yankee Swap. So, that's 9 less adults to buy for. We're still buying presents for the three kids.

What will I do with all that extra time and money? Well, I definitely want to participate in Samaritan's Purse, Operation Christmas Child again. I think that was the most fun purchasing I did last holiday season. For those of you not familiar with the program, you fill a shoebox up with toys, non-melty candies or gum, and personal hygiene items like toothbrushes, etc., and drop the box off at a collection location near you. The boxes are combined at a central location and shipped around the world to children in need, who otherwise wouldn't have anything given to them. The organization asks for a $7 donation to help pay for the shipping and you choose the age group/sex of the child who you are buying for and label your box accordingly. It's so much fun to do and to imagine the child's face when they open their present.

Something else I want to do is sit down and decide what the most meaningful parts of the holiday season are for me. I want to do something in nature--decorate a tree in the middle of the woods with popcorn and cranberries and homemade edible bird feeders for the animals. I want to spend more time enjoying the sights and sounds and smells of the holiday. I want to make Christmas meaningful again, not just a slew of activities to get through until I collapse in the new year. And of course, I want to spend time focusing on the original, true meaning of Christmas for me, the birth of Jesus. Last year was the first in a very long time that I created an Advent wreath. Lighting the candles at each meal and reading a scripture verse was calming. I am considering no tree this year and very minimal, mostly natural decorations.

For a long time I thought, "Well, others will be disappointed if I don't do X, or if I don't volunteer with Y." But I have the entire rest of the year to volunteer my time for causes I believe in, it doesn't have to be just a one month/week/or day thing in December. And I'm sorry if I insult someone by not displaying the holiday decorations or ornaments they gave us--though in reality they've probably forgotten they ever even gave it in the first place!

So, here's my advice for you this season. First, read all you can about alternative/pared down holidays in books like the Tightwad Gazette, Unplug the Christmas Machine, and the One
Hundred Dollar Holiday.

And take some time now, before the rush begins, to determine what you do and don't like about the holidays. If you love giving gifts and can't imagine paring down, could you give gifts that have less of an impact on the earth and it's inhabitants? What about some consumable gifts like fair trade coffee and chocolates, or sweat shop free clothes or accessories? Want to spend more time in nature or creating new family traditions? Start talking to other family member now, don't wait until a week or two before Christmas. For many, many people the holidays are the most depressing time of the year. What could we do to help those who might be feeling down? Animal shelters struggle to pay their fuel bills as winter closes in. Can we help with that? Food shelves typically are bombarded (wonderfully) with food this one time of the year. Could we make a donation for future purchases when people aren't giving so much? Could we "adopt" a local family or elderly person and pledge to leave a box of food anonymously for them each month for the rest of the year?

Christmas is about giving: Giving hope, peace, warmth, food, love. It's not just about giving material gifts.

Roasted Veggie Goodness

I've been a vegetarian since I was nine years old. Well, let me re-frame that--I was a vegetarian from the ages of nine and probably 22, but then I started eating fish occasionally. So I guess I'm not a true, official vegetarian anymore.

However, over the years, my interest in healthier eating has really grown. I was one of those unhealthy vegetarians for a long time, one that didn't care much for vegetables and wasn't careful about protein intake. That's all changed (thank goodness). Now I love most vegetables and I try to make sure I'm getting an adequate amount of protein daily.

One of my favorite ways to cook vegetables is to roast them. If you haven't tried roasting vegetables yet, you absolutely must. Roasting brings out the natural sugars in the plant foods, making them sweet, chewy-crisp, and delicious.

The sandwich above is one I came up with this week and is YUMMY! Plus, it's healthy.

Here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread a little oil around a cookie sheet and cut your vegetables up, laying them all around the sheet. Try to leave a little space between the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 10 minutes, turn veggies over and bake another 10 minutes. (Tip: Vegetables that are hearty like portobello mushrooms, winter squash, sweet and white potatoes, carrots, etc., roast very, very well).

While your veggies finish roasting, toast a crusty roll and spread with a thin layer of wasabi or chipotle mayo (add a bit of wasabi or chipotle paste to the mayo in a separate dish and stir well). On top of that, add a thick layer of hummus, then layer on your roasted vegetables. Eat open-faced.

Afterwards, make sure you tell me if you eat this and how much you loved it--because I just know you will.

Happy roasting!

Homemade Beauty

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

True, but sometimes the beholder doesn't see all the work that goes into the finished product. While a small percentage of women roll out of bed looking absolutely fabulous and stunning, most of us require a bit more work to get that way.

First comes the cleansing, then the toning, followed by the moisturising. Then there is the makeup application, the hair management (how do eyebrows sprout up overnight like that?), the hair styling, the finishing, the spraying.

And what exactly are we putting on and into our bodies by using all of these products on a daily basis? A lot of chemicals, some dye, fragrance and a lot of artificial crap.

If you have ever wondered where your moisturizer ends up after it seeps into your skin, or how those long-lasting lipsticks stay on your lips so long, or just what are all of these ingredients that we can't pronounce in these jars of potions and powders, I encourage you to borrow "Drop Dead Gorgeous", by Kim Erikson, from your local library. (This book is also available through my "Green Lending Library--see left sidebar for more info).

These book changed my beauty routine for good. Did you know, for instance, that some ingredients which the United States allows in beauty products have been banned in many European countries? And have you ever thought about transdermal medication patches like Nicoderm and pain patches? How do these medicines get into our system? Through the skin, our bodies largest organ. If medication can enter our system through the skin, where are all of these lotions and other beauty products ending up?

But don't worry--the book is certainly not all doom and gloom. Ms. Erikson offers many great resources for making your own beauty products as well as a comprehensive list of companies which use natural ingredients in their products.

Here are a few of my favorite natural beauty products to get you started. You should have most in the kitchen cupboard.

Baking Soda: Excellent at removing product buildup in the hair. Mix with shampoo at about a 1 to 2 part ratio (1 part soda to 2 parts shampoo) and shampoo as usual. Leaves the hair light and fluffy. Also works wonderfully as a deodorant. Sprinkle some in your hand and dust your underarms.

Oatmeal: Whiz up in the blender until just broken and store in your bathroom cupboard. Is an excellent, moisturizing exfoliant and very gentle on the skin. Mix into a paste by adding water to some oatmeal in your hand and rub over face. (Stand over the sink as it can be a little messy.) Rinse off and check out the glow.

Almond Oil: The most wonderful moisturizer I've ever used. Use 2-3 drops on your face after washing and massage into the skin. This is a light oil and will absorb quickly. Additionally, use as an all-over body moisturizer. Last year I went through a bottle during winter and it was the first time I didn't suffer from dry, itchy winter skin. (It's rumored that Jackie Kennedy used Almond Oil as her facial moisturizer.)

NOTE: I should confess here and now that I'm not a completely "natural" girl. I still haven't found a great eyeliner or mascara which is natural and will stay in place. I have switched to all mineral face makeup though (powder/blush), and lip gloss. Anyone have any great natural eye makeup sources to share?

TV Pacifiers

Are any of you concerned with the amount or quality of television or movies you've been watching lately? I'm re-reading Dr. J. Matthew Sleeth's book, Serve God, Save the Planet and just finished a chapter on the negative aspects of television.

Now, before anyone lambastes me for trying to make them feel guilty for watching a little TV now and then, let me share a scary statistic with you. The average American citizen will spend 10 years of his or her life watching television before she dies.

Yikes.

I'm not a big TV watcher, but I do love movies. I love going to the theater and renting movies at home. Love, love, love it.

My husband is a big-time TV watcher. I bet if I didn't live here, it would be on just about all the time. But, the truth is, if it's on I will usually watch it, sometimes even against my will--I get sucked in. In fact, I even asked him to buy a headset for television watching because I cannot seem to keep my focus on what I'm doing if the television is on.

So lately I have been thinking that it's time to pare down on the television watching a bit. I just came across this great Web site which offers you 101 emailed ideas of what you can do instead of watching TV. I'm signing up.

The site also lists a lot of the reasons to turn off the "boob toob" (my parents favorite term for the television). And really, reading through the list, it did make me think: When's the last time I watched television and felt all happy and energized afterward? Does it ever make me inspired to do things that will positively effect my life? What else am I missing out on by watching too much TV?

"But it's just so eeeeaaaasssssyyyy. . . " I can almost hear someone responding. It's true. Watching TV is easy--incredibly so. Now televisions are installed in places I never thought they would be--in the back of minivans, at the grocery store, in restaruants. What did we do before all this constant TV watching? Hmmmm, I think we used to do something strange, called conversing. . .

Make sure you tell me if you sign up for the email ideas, okay? I'm curious to know what others think--I'll try to post some of the more interesting/unique ideas on this blog.

Happy Foody

Lately, I've been craving sweets like this little crispy treat above. And check out the foil wrapped Lindt chocolate on the right of the tea cup! Yum. Almost too pretty to eat.

Almost.

But these days I'm trying to eat more healthfully. Even my husband has gotten on board lately, asking for extra fruit and vegetables and cutting back on soda and chips. I know in my heart of hearts that eating good food makes me feel good. I know that eating foods full of sugar/fat/salt don't make me feel so hot. So if I know all that, why is it still so hard to eat good foods?

If you've been wondering that same thing, I have the perfect Web site to share with you: Happy Foody. This girl is a true inspiration to me on many levels, but one of the best things about her site is that she makes you absolutely crave crunchy fresh vegetables and sweet, wholesome fruits as though they were cake and candy. Her photos are amazing and she includes some fabulous recipes.

PLUS she's super environmentally friendly. You can learn more about her and her family's recent trip across country in a veggie-oil RV here.

Very inspiring.

Here's a delicious recipe from Dr. Weil's site that I just tried out today.

This makes a perfect snack or dessert when you have a sweet tooth and is nice and healthy.

Cocoa-Banana Frozen Dessert

4 bananas--quite ripe
2 Tbl. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbl. real maple syrup

Whiz together the bananas and cocoa powder in blender or food processor. Add vanilla and maple syrup and process until very smooth. Transfer into custard cups and cover. Freeze a few hours until set.

Delicious!

How can I recycle this???

I try to recycle. But sometimes it's hard to find a place to recycle certain things. For instance, I have this broken 7-in-1 blender/chopper/smoothie maker/food processor that's been sitting in my basement for years because it's missing one little, tiny part. I contacted the company several times, but unfortunately, they aren't making this particular unit anymore. I refuse to just throw it in the garbage though--there must be some way to recycle it. Perhaps into a lovely smoothie- maker planter?

For all of you who have those pesky items sitting around gathering dust in your
garage/attic/basement or closet, I have a great site to share with you: "How Can I Recycle This?" is a fabulous blog which will give you a thousand (or at least one or two) ideas of what to do with things which you can't recycle traditionally, but hate to throw in the landfill.

Play with your food

My sister sent me this link quite a while back. I have to warn you, it's addictive. You can test your vocabulary and simultaneously earn grains of rice to be donated by the United Nations. Every correct answer will add 20 grains of rice to your "bowl". But who can stop at 20 grains? I played up to 600 this morning and had a hard time stopping there.